The Ugly American

“‘You’re the wrong person to be permitted to do it. If it succeeded, the Sarkhanese would believe that America was their savior.’”

Deong knows that Colvin’s milk venture will be invaluable to Sarkhan and future generations. Given his commitment to Communism, sabotaging the milk production is preferable to crediting Western capitalism for helping the Sarkhanese. This view is reinforced later in the book as Finian’s newspaper prints the chilling detachment with which Stalin viewed the expendable nature of peasants on behalf of the state.

“It is to our advantage to have him remain here.”

Krupitzyn reports back to Russia that Sears is so bumbling and arrogant with the natives that he can be viewed as a Soviet asset. Simply by being himself, Sears is helping the Communists fight against the American cause. The difference between Krupitzyn’s methodical approach to long-term solutions and Sears’s haphazard focus on cocktail parties and newspaper cartoons symbolizes the difference between the Soviet and American approach in Southeast Asia. 

“This was, he was sure, the first time that these men had ever been told by a white man that a big and important decision was entirely their own … and would be followed by the white man.”

Finian tells his eight partners that he will abide by their decision and work with them toward whatever goal they choose. Mistrust of whites is a common theme in the book. The cynicism of the natives is never presented as unfounded, as there are many examples in the novel of untrustworthy whites. The loyalty that Finian’s men show to him is not a result of any great effort on his part; he has simply treated the Burmese as equals.